Nanaimo Shopping Information
We have funky thrift stores and boutiques, big-box outlets, and specialty food stores, as well as all the regular places you'd expect in the city. Very generally speaking, the big-box and the major shopping malls can be found in the north end of town, while the rest is downtown.
Shopping Malls
The main artery through town is the Island Highway, and it's strung with a great many shopping malls. There is also a bypass highway (the Parkway) connecting the two ends of the city and everything in between.
Woodgrove Centre - This is the biggest shopping mall in Nanaimo, with 150 stores and services, including Avalon Cinemas. It's at the farthest end of town in the north, on the way to Parksville and the West Coast.
Rutherford Mall - Rutherford Mall is at the corner of Island Highway and Rutherford Road. It has about 50 stores and services, including Galaxy Theaters.
Country Club Centre - Over 50 stores, ten minutes north of downtown.
Port Place Mall - formerly Harbour Park Mall - This indoor mall has 45 stores, right downtown. Teenaged girls from Seattle will not be pleased with Port Place, but its Thrifty Foods, London Drugs and BC Liquor Store provide for a lot of our needs downtown.
Brooks Landing Mall - Formerly Northbrook, this is a strip mall with banking, a Home Hardware, Staples, a supermarket (the most Asian-friendly one), and more. It's just uphill from BC Ferries in Departure Bay.
Harewood Mall - Located in Harewood between downtown and the University-College, Harewood Mall has a Value Village, a large drug store, a supermarket and more.
Terminal Park Mall - This outdoor mall is between downtown and Brooks Landing (see above). There is a Save-On-Foods, BC Liquor Store, a fish market, and more.
Southgate Mall - This mall is south of Downtown, almost out of the city. There's a Food Country grocery store here, and some restaurants, and a drug store, and more. Across the street are a Buckerfields (not yet verified) and a gas station, a couple of fast food places, pizza, and a video store.
Grocery Shopping in Nanaimo
If you're looking for grocery shopping, you can just travel up the island highway, and near almost every major intersection is a grocery store. We think the local Thrifty Foods has the best service and products. Its produce section is awesome! Fairway Market at Brooks Landing has the largest Asian foods selection, and Quality Foods is good for bargains and hot foods, as well as deli stuff.